Fifty. Five zero. The Big Five – OH.
Born in 1971. 2021, our big year. A gang of school friends – about to turn 50, our half centenary. We made it.
From dialling each other daily on the telephone, to messages and memes on the group chat. We’ve survived it all. The relationships, the disagreements, the disappointments, and the disasters. The pregnancies, the non-pregnancies, the births, the weddings, the non-weddings, the break ups. The babies, the toddler years, the middle years, the teenagers.
The giggles! From the girls’ holiday fortnight to the annual long weekend away.
We met in our formative years. We’ve other friends – great friends. But with this bunch – there’s no hiding. We know every little flaw, and every little weakness. We remember every story, and every funny moment. And we never forget.
Covid might have been the death knell for the group. Differing opinions, high emotions, fear, stress, and depression. Too many to meet all at once. Impending zoom doom. It was hard to deal with, to stay connected to one another.
Then, loomed the first Big Birthday.
We’d had plans for our fiftieth year which had to be reset. So, we planned again. Out came the old photos, the shared memories. The hilarities, the could-have-beens, the what ifs?
The special birthday arrived. A collective feeling of love and emotion, poured into making the first 50th memorable, even from a distance.
A triumph! It brought us back together again.
Now we know, turning 50 in a pandemic is unique. A time to acknowledge and appreciate one another. We tailor each birthday to each person but remain part of a larger celebration.
Not only are we becoming quinquagenarians, we’ve achieved a long-standing friendship, spanning four decades.
Ya dancer!